Limoncello, Home Brew, and Unchaining Dogs

Winter has hit Atlanta making this weekend too cold to do much of anything that meant venturing outside the house. I like to spend days like that curled up with a good book and a pup or too or creating something in the kitchen. This weekend it was Limoncello that asked to be created. We had a few bags of beautiful Meyers lemons so we were ready.
Limoncello is something we discovered in Italy, it's often served after your meal in a shot cup or a cordial glass. You'll want to sip it, not shoot it, the alcohol content is too high but it doesn't taste really boozy. It actually helps you to feel a little less full after a meal. You can buy it already made but what's the fun of that? I can buy a manufactured ceramic item too, but the ones we make by hand are so much better, even if they aren't always perfect.
After making the limoncello we squeeze the lemons into a pretty bottle which we store for later use in cooking. The fresh juice doesn't keep for very long (I'm not sure how ReaLemon lasts as long as it does but I find that frightening) so I wanted to use some of it right away. I guess I had alcohol on my mind because I thought about brewing some beer as a good option. So I made an American IPA with an addition of about a cup of lemon juice. My hope is that this will give it just a subtle hint of lemon flavor to the beer. It will take a few weeks of fermenting and conditioning before I get to drink any of it to be certain my theory is sound. Beer brewing is a bit like pottery, you need patience. You also need some forward thinking an optimism. On one of the coldest days of the winter (thus far anyway) I brewed a beer that will be best enjoyed on a warm summer's day.
A good cause will get me out of the house, the fundraiser for the Coalition to Unchain Dogs was inspiration enough. I bundled up in as many heavy layers of cloths as my body could carry and still stay upright and raced from the house to the car and then into the Midway for the fundraiser. I'm such a whimp when it comes to cold. They had a great turn out, a raffle and silent auction, adoptable dogs and a good bit of fun. It didn't seem like the cold weather kept many people inside and that they were successful in raising a good bit of cash. They will improve the lives of a few dogs with that money and that makes me happy.

Comments

Limoncello sounds wonderfully refreshing and making beer too. wow. Chaining dogs makes them vicious I hate to see them chained up, the least worst thing is having one of those lines where they can go quite a distance on their chain that is strung between two trees whereby their chain slides along the length.

You're also right about the chaining. It's illegal here but lots of people still doing it. I don't mind seeing dogs on the cable you mentioned, I even used one when I was in a place where we could not put up a fence, but the dogs were in-door dogs and also got walks through the woods so it was just a part time solution for safety.

Winter has finally hit the south! Here in NC we are feeling the same way... too cold to do anything outside, and here I am a northern girl from NH recently transplanted to the south! I used to not have a problem being outside in these temperatures and now I am a wimp!Limoncello sound delicious, someday I will have to try it.

just pass a glass over- I am too lazy to make it but I would love a taste!It was cold and we had to be out in it to help and enjoy a family birthday- worth the trouble.No pots today but a bisque kiln just clicked off... unload and load back tomorrow.

The ancients believed inanimate objects such as pottery had a soul. I
can understand why they thought this. It comes from the ground, where
life sustaining plants grow, and just like people; with direction it
can be molded. Also like people and plants it has mind of its own and
sometimes rejects the direction in which we lead it. Often the
resulting pot is better than what we intended at the start. This is why
I love working in clay and why my style is not highly refined or rigid.
I gently guide the clay and the glaze but rejoice in letting them
become what they will by the other forces they encounter. Just like
planting a seed in the garden, even when I have specific plans for it
I’m never exactly certain what it will be until it is fully developed.
I hope you enjoy my work as much as I enjoy sharing it with you.